UNIDOS Day of Action: Misinformation or Pure Propaganda?

Regardless of the cause, spreading misinformation to pump up emotions is not right. OK, call me a Pollyanna in a fact-free universe, but I still believe in telling the truth. UNIDOS, the high school/university student group that supports the revival of now-defunct Mexican American Studies Program in Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), is widely distributing this flier through social media. UNIDOS is calling for a Day of Action to commemorate students storming the TUSD board meeting last year. Unfortunately, this flier includes three errors of fact. 1: The overall dropout rate for Hispanic students in TUSD is 2.09% in 2010– not 48%. This is just a bit more than the overall dropout rate of 1.82%; less than half the dropout rate for Native American students (4.41%); and almost twice the dropout rate for white students (1.19%). Here’s the data table. (BTW, “Mexican American” is not listed as a catagory by TUSD– only Hispanic.) 2: The overall graduation rate for TUSD students is 83%, as is the overall graduation rate for TUSD students who have taken at least one MAS course. The biggest difference in graduation rates between MAS and non-MAS students appears when you look at only very low income students. Using a 2010 cohort, 79% of very low-income MAS students graduated compared to 64% of very low income non-MAS students (The data graphic below and others are at the end of this story.) 3: Mexican American Studies is not illegal in Tucson or in Arizona. The state shut down only the TUSD MAS program. MAS is being taught in the Sunnyside School District in Tucson. MAS (of a different variety) could be taught again in TUSD– if someone developed the curriculum. I am not anti-MAS, but I do believe that no program is beyond improvement. As I stated in this article, in my opinion, MAS supporters should learn from their experiences over the last 10 years and develop a new curriculum that reaches more Latino students and has a stronger evaluation component. Now, excuse me while I don my hard hat and wait for the shouts of racist!UPDATE: Fuzzy Math Predictably, rather than explaining how UNIDOS came up with their figures, this blog was attacked because I didn’t tow the MAS party line. Just to clarify the charge of “fuzzy math”… the 83% graduation rate shown in the graphic below is based upon a “2010 four-year graduation cohort” (subset of students), according to the TUSD Excel spreadsheet from which I created the graphic. The 2.09% dropout rate is across all TUSD schools. The dropout rate was taken from this handy TUSD table, which allows anyone to quickly find dropout rates– and lots of other data– by school, by year, by ethnicity, etc. (If you’re into data and evaluation, check out the TUSD website. There is a lot there.) What’s the difference between these two figures? For the math majors out there, the percentages were derived from different data sets– one a four-year cohort, the other all students, all grades, all schools. (Apples and oranges, as they say in the math world.) Secondly, there are other reasons students don’t graduate– besides dropping out and quitting school. People move. People die.

Progressive Action

Governor Ducey had proposed increasing prison beds and funding, while cutting education. Protesters took issue with that short-sighted idea.

We often hear that corporations need migrant workers because Americans “don’t want to do these jobs.” When I hear this statement, I picture farm workers picking vegetables. Recently, I toured two dairies and an animal feed packing plant in Pinal County. The photo above from the Zinke Dairy shows a giant cow milking carousel. Nine migrant workers milk 4000 cows three times a day at this dairy. Legislators watched the two men pictured here– working at a brisk pace– bend over and pick up, lift, and attach large electronic suction cups to the cows as they ride the carousel around the giant facility. This level of automation is the wave of the future for industrial jobs.

Safe Park, downtown Tucson

Desconocido (unknown)

John Nichols of ‘The Nation’ addressed progressives and unionists at a Tucson event.

Despite the sweltering heat, Jim and I had a great time at the Labor Day Picnic. We collected a lot of Clean Elections $5 donations and signatures. Here I am with LD9 chair Michael Dues.

Protesting migrant deaths in the Arizona desert.

We are the 99%.

PDA Tucson Coordinator Jim Hannley speaks against both the crowd management ordinance and the urban camping ban at the City Council meeting.

I have a background in research. Help me build Tucson’s tech industry and grow our own local businesses.

Rep. Sally Ann Gonzales and I were interviewed by NBC at the Phoenix rally.

Jim and I were part of a contingent of Unitarian Universalists who came up from Tucson. Here I am with Rev. Ron Phares from the Mountain Vista UU Church in my district. (Jim is photobombing us.)

Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley with members of the Tucson Chapter of NOW on opening day at the Arizona Legislature, 2018.

A homeless man sleeps in the shadow of corporate America.

In the 1980s, the Tucson Weekly called Tucson the “Baked Apple”.

The Living Economy event was very informative; we had a great time hob-nobbing. My husband Jim is a small business owner and a member of Local First Arizona. I have owned two small businesses in the past– Powers/Queen Associates and Wind Dancer Design. We support Local First Arizona and buying/investing locally. We believe that supporting local small businesses with low-interest loans through a public/private partnership between a public bank and community banks and credit unions is the sustainable route to improving our local economy. Trickle down economics doesn’t work; it’s time for new ideas.

Jobs with Justice marching with Occupy Tucson in support of postal workers.

Occupy encampment in Armory Park– before it was cleared out in the middle of the night by Tucson Police.

There have been many lively debates in the Arizona House in 2018. This team of House Democrats fought for consumer protections and fought against risky financial deals in a “regulatory sandbox.” (Pictured are Reps. Mitzi Epstein, Kelli Butler, Athena Salman, Pamela Powers Hannley, Ken Clark and Isela Blanc.)

It was truly a honor to meet Nevada State Senator Patricia Spearman (center) in October and to confer with her regarding our efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in Arizona. Spearman led the successful Nevada efforts to ratify the ERA in 2017. Here we are with activist and NOW leader Dainne Post after the ERA workshop at the We the People Conference in Phoenix. There are a lot of Arizona women who are ready to make history in 2018. Watch my blog here and my Facebook page here for ERA updates.

Visiting with PALF chairman Fred Yamashita at the 2016 Labor Day Picnic.

Ironically, I posted this blog post on the anniversary of this election on June 19. 1970ish.

A giant poet’s head made up of stainless steel letters marks the stop near the UA Poetry Center.

Congressman Ron Barber and Pamela Powers Hannley at Cyclovia

This is a broken sink in the Ladies’ Room at the Arizona State Building in downtown Tucson. One of the elevators also was broken. It’s time to fix Arizona government.

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About

I stand on the side of Love. I believe in kindness to all creatures on Earth and the inherent self-worth of all individuals--not just people who agree with me or look like me.

Widespread economic and social injustice prompted me to become a candidate for the Arizona House, representing Legislative District 9 in the 2016 election. My platform focuses on economic reforms to grow Arizona's economy, establish a state-based public bank, fix our infrastructure, fully fund public education, growlocal small businesses and community banks, and put people back to work at good-paying jobs. I also stand for equal rights, choice, and paycheck fairness for women. I am running as a progressive and running clean.

My day job is managing editor for the American Journal of Medicine, an academic medicine journal with a worldwide circulation. In addition, my husband and I co-direct Arizonans for a New Economy, Arizona's public banking initiative. I am a member of the national board of the Public Banking Institute, and I am co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus of the Arizona Democratic Party.

I am a published author, photographer, videographer, clay artist, mother, nana, and wife. I have a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio State University and a masters in public health from the University of Arizona. I grew up in Amherst, Ohio, but I have lived in Tucson, Arizona since 1981. I am a proud member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson and the Public Relations Society of America.

My Tucson Progressive blog and Facebook page feature large doses of liberal ideas, local, state, and national politics, and random bits of humor. I also blog at Blog for Arizona and the Huffington Post.